Just been looking for Minimins as having left Slimming World to go to uni I have put on so much weight. Although I loved SW I'm not sure that is currently for me. I think to start myself off again I am going to need something where I don't have to think about food and I don't have to go to the supermarket!! In this respect I think a VLCD might just be perfect.

However, at uni I am training to be a paramedic and as such I have to go out and work on the ambulances which can be very physically strenuous. My main worry is that on a VLCD such as Slim and Save I won't have the energy to do this work.

So basically my question is do you think I would be able to cope on Slim and Save with the work I'll be doing? I really like the look of S&S and really want to give it a go.

Well I don't do the most strenuous job as I work in an office but I can say that I've not lacked energy on this diet. On the contrary since losing a couple of stone I've had a lot more energy than before and feel much better and healthier too. My start weight was much the same as yours. The first few days are the worst as you get into ketosis but you can make that easier for yourself by following the Atkins diet for a week before swapping over to the mealpacks by which time you should already be in ketosis.

You will certainly lose more weight on a VLCD than any other diet but you'll need a lot of willpower to stick to it though. It's definitely easier in terms of choosing what to eat though. lol.

I'm not sure how your past diet was but did you do a lot of home cooking for it? It might work to your advantage to pay more attention to your schedule. If you visit the supermarket then make a big meal from scratch a meal could be healthy (you know whats in it exactly) and the energy used to cook could help with your weight loss. There are so many delicious things I cook at home now rather than go out for. Chinese food for instance I make at home and it tastes just as good but its healthier for me (aka no msg and other things that tweak with me personally). Avoiding the issue of not being able to handle too much food thought could be serious when you get to a lower weight. The forever diet is not a happy place to be.

Initiative I'm not planning on this becoming a forever diet. I want to do a meal replacement diet for the time being so that I can loose the weight without having to think about food as I know for the time being if I can eat I'll just end up falling off. Once I am happy with where I am weight wise and mentally (though not at goal) I will probably go back to Slimming World to introduce healthy eating so I don't end up on a forever diet. I'm not stupid and I know this isn't everything I will need.

Guess it means to stay in 'diet' mode eternally without addressing eating issues that made you overweight in the first place.

Most of us are here on this VLCD as we have substantial amounts to lose that we don't want to take years to shift. Abstinence gives plenty of time to think about our food issues and what we need to do to ensure healthy maintenance once we move to refeeding.

I am not working on the diet i would try a weeks worth and see how u get on. I cant say i have the same energy as i did before diet i cant imagine say running on a treadmill as i did before diet (occasionally ;-) ) but ok with long walks.

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